A Wicked Game to Play
by Dakk Tribal
Summary: 03 - When you make a seemingly reckless decision, the potential consequences of that decision came harm those that are closest to you. This is what befalls Yusei, and it effects the one person worried most about him.


A/N: This is the next chapter in the series I am doing.

* * *

It was well into the night, moonlight pouring in from the windows behind where Yusei slept on his couch, staring up at the ceiling and not sleepy in the slightest.

Instead he was wondering how to get to sleep, as he was exhausted and he knew it, he knew he had to sleep. However, the events that had transpired earlier in the day were coming back to haunt him. What happened was his fault entirely.

A duel had been the start of it. A duel with a man who called himself Romeo and a droid known as Juliet, they had come for Stardust Dragon and Yusei had been determined not to hand his old friend over. A double duel had started between Romeo and Juliet against Yusei and Akiza, the only other 5D's duelist who was around to be Yusei's partner.

The battle had been long and hard, but the most crucial moment came near the end. Yusei had blocked an attack meant for Akiza's Black Rose Dragon with his own Stardust Dragon, and while he lost the card in the attack and had to send it to the Graveyard, Akiza had been able to retaliate and mount an attack that sent the two tragic duelists packing back to where ever they had come from.

Too bad the battle was a pyrrhic one at best. Though Yusei had saved the duel and his card, everyone else was considerably shaken by the experience. Jack wasn't happy when he found out, and the twins also gave him a case of verbal abuse when they confronted him (having seen it on television earlier and the reruns that happened afterward).

However, the one person it seemed to hurt the most was Akiza herself. She had been quiet after the duel, and when he tried to talk to her about later in the day, she didn't feel like talking to anyone. That was pretty hard to handle for Yusei, as he shut himself in the garage to think it over. That was how he ended up here, his body sore and his mind a wreck.

Sitting up Yusei wondered if he had made the best decision at the time. "If I hadn't done that, then Akiza's dragon would have been destroyed and she would have been knocked out of the duel..." He put his hand over his eyes and laid back down, feeling more and more confused. _'Was it really_ that _reckless?'_

When he had removed his hand and opened his eyes, his vision was blurred so he couldn't make anything out for a few seconds, and when his vision cleared he saw that someone was standing over him behind the couch. It took him all of a few seconds, seeing the magenta colored locks and the feminine features in the moonlight not to mention glistening eyes, to realize it was Akiza.

Sitting up, Yusei spoke, "Akiza? What are you doing here at this hour?" He had the suspicion that she had been in bed recently was evidenced by the large long sleeved shirt she wore that was black and white stripped, and it appeared to be a size or two bigger than she was by how it draped over her form. The end of the shirt went to just above the halfway point of her thighs, and she was barefoot. Her hair was damp, and she smelled strongly of a sweet fragrance.

The young woman, who Yusei hadn't known for very long but had respected her as a trusted partner of his group, spoke softly, "I haven't been able to sleep, so I thought I'd come here to see if you were up as well. Is that alright?"

"Sure," Yusei nodded, taking note that Akiza dried her eyes before walking around the opposite end of the sofa. From what he knew Akiza was known to be somewhat emotionally fragile and thus he tried to take care of how he behaved around her. It had worked up until today it seemed. Seeing her in such a state made him realize how what he done during the duel had been a mistake. "By the way, what happened earlier today. I think might have been out of line."

The beginning of his explanation was good enough from the top of his mind, but Akiza didn't respond to it.

"I know that the duel wasn't exactly life or death for us but I couldn't-"

Akiza put her left hand to his chest and pushed him back, keeping her hand pressed against his chest as he sat back against the arm rest. She kept it there, but Yusei knew it wasn't a move out of anger as she was pressing on him it had been forceful at first but then it became softer.

"You made a good call Yusei, I can't fault you for what you did. You won the duel. However, there is one thing I will fault you for," she sat down on the edge of the sofa. Her hand remained on his chest. "Why did you have to use Stardust Dragon?"

Yusei didn't say anything.

"If you hadn't saved my dragon, we would've lost the duel, but did you have to use Stardust Dragon just for that?"

Recalling what he had in his hand from the duel, Yusei didn't have another choice at the time. All he had were magic and low level monsters, and Stardust had been the only monster on his side of the field that could be used. "I had very little choice."

"I know in the end Stardust can be just a card, but to me, it is a part of you...when you saved my dragon, I saw it as you sacrificing yourself for me. True I knew right from the beginning that it was a duel for the card only but...""

Now Yusei saw tears forming in her eyes.

"That scared me, Yusei, scared me more than anything in my life," she said, struggling with the words. "Basically...I just want to say that if it came between going that far to save me I'd rather you didn't. I'd rather do it for you instead."

Yusei grabbed her hand with his own, and he got goosebumps from how cold her skin was on contact. "Akiza..."

She leaned in towards him, "I'd rather die than live without you. Just remember that Yusei Fudo."

The whole duel had sent her mind and heart into a blender, and from there Yusei began to see what he had done in the duel had done more damage than he had anticipated. Akiza was hurting in many ways, mostly in heart and soul.

"Akiza...I'm sorry," was all he could say, and he meant it.

She seemed to like what she heard as she leaned in closer to him, and laid down on his chest. "Just don't think of doing that again."

"I'm sorry that I scared you like that. I'll try not to do it again," he said, running a hand down her back.

For a few moments she remained silent, like she was finally at peace, but then Yusei heard her speak in a soft voice, "Yusei? Can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Would it be alright if I slept with you tonight?"

Normally Yusei wouldn't have found it out of place had they been in the main part of the house, he would've just slept on the floor, but since it was a couch that presented a challenge. He knew Akiza wanted to stay near him. Still, he took on any challenge head on. He nodded, "That would be fine."

Sitting up, Akiza maneuvered herself and got on the sofa. In order to fit she had to quite literally lie on top of Yusei.

At first Yusei didn't think too much on it, but the moment she pressed her bountiful chest against his side (and felt the softness of her body) he went red in the face. She lay on her side between Yusei and the upper cushions, laying her head on his chest while he was on his back. "You alright?"

She answered quietly, and very shyly, "Yes...I'm just a little cold, that's all."

Having an instant remedy for that, Yusei pulled the blanket off the back of the sofa and covered himself and Akiza. Thanks to their combined body heat it didn't take long for them to get warm, and it didn't take much longer for them to find the sleep that had eluded them both up until then.

When sleep finally caught them, it had been with smiles.

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A/N: This was the first time I have ever written about these two, and what I like about them is their maturity. Though they fall victim to the usual trend of romantic couples in the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise never coming to fruition (may God strike thee down whoever makes this decision every damn time).


End file.
